Brick-machine



UNTTED sTATEs PATENT oFFIoE.

JOHN F. SCHUFFENECKER, OF KEOKUK, IOWA.

BRICK-MACHINE.

Speccaton of Letters Patent No. 23,315, dated March 22, 1859.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, JOHN F. SCHUFFF.- Nnoxnn, of Keokuk, in the countyof Lee and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Machine forMaking Bricks of Tempered Clay, of which the following is a full andexact description, reference being had to the annexed drawings, whichmake a part of this description.

To enable others skilled in the art, to make and use my invention I nowproceed to describe its construction and operation.

Figure l is a side view of the machine; Fig. 2 is a section of the same;Fig. 3 is an inside view of what I term the quadrant. and some of itsappendages; Fig. 4 is the under surface of the quadrant and Fig. 5 isthe quadrant as it appears when seen from an end view of the machine.

m is the axle of the driving wheel of the machine having cogs on itsouter periphery which work into corresponding cogs on the larger wheel nby which the two equal wheels 0 0 are driven. Through the shafts ofthese latter wheels the arms 7) y) are placed making acute angles withthose shafts re spectively. rFliese acute angles are turned in differentdirections on the different shafts for the purpose of more effectuallygrinding and mixing the clay.

s s are arms attached to the hopper and placed at an angle to correspondwith those of the arms in the respective shafts.

r is a lever which by being held at different elevations by the rack tmay close en tirely the shutters a 'o or may leave the opening betweenthem as great as may be desired.

The clay when properly moistened is placed in the hopper as shown inFig. 2. Upon first commencing work the shutters are entirely closeduntil the clay is properly mixed after which they are opened as far asnecessary to allow the mortar to pass into the molds z' z'. The quadrantC turning on its axle g rises at the proper time to allow the clay topass into the molds when it is brought back again and its inferiorsurface shown in Fig. 4 is pressed down upon the mortar sufficiently tolill the molds completely. The apertures D D allow the superfluousmortar to pass out and to be deposited in the empty molds in the rear ofthose which are thus filled. The lower surface of the quadrant is notbrought into complete contact with the molds though very nearly so.

To prevent the mortar from being drawn out of the molds by the effect ofatmospheric pressure as the quadrant is made to rise from the moldswhich have been filled as above described I use a shutter B which ismade to open previous to the rising of the quadrant.

As the molds after being filled are moved forward toward the left in themanner hereinafter described a scraper A brings down the clay in themolds to the exact height of the molds except for a small portion at thefront end of the molds. If the scraper were to pass over the entiresurface of the'molds it would draw the mortar away from the front edgeso as to prevent the forming of a sharp corner of the brick. To preventthis result the scraper is raised above the surface about oneeightl1 ofan inch and is brought down upon the surface of the molds after thefront edge of the mold has passed the scraper about three-eighths of aninch. After this another scraper A A moving in the opposite directionlevels down the small portion of the surface which escaped the action ofthe scraper A and completely fills the mold with mortar.

I will now point out some of the principal instrumentalities by whichthe results above mentioned are produced.

b shows the end of a driving bar extending across the rear end of themachine and to which a reciprocative motion is communicated by the rod7' and al corresponding rod on the opposite side of the machine. A setof molds 2' being placed on the apron in front of this driving bar is bya revolution of the wheel n driven forward suiiiciently to permitanother set to be introduced into the space that is left as this baragain retreats. The rod E attached at one end to the driving bar and atthe other to the wrist IV moves the quadrant C at the proper moment. Therod F is also moved by the driving bar while its left hand extremitymoves the angle lever c c. This lever raises the scraper A and allows itto fall at the proper point. The scraper A thus allowed to fall remainsin contact with the molds by the effect of its own weight and if thisshould be found insufiicient a spring or its equivalent may beinterposed for that purpose.

H is another rod attached to a wrist at the upper extremity of a doublecrank which moves around the axle g. This rod has its other extremityattached to a Wrist 25 t by which means a reciprocative motion is givento the scraper A A. That scraper When retreating to the right is turnedin such a position as to rise above the mold but is brought down uponthe molds When it moves from right to left. The changes of position arecaused by studs as represented in Fig. 2.

The shutter B is held in place by a forked brace R which is sustained inposition by the coiled spring S (Fig. 2). This brace stands verticallyupon this shutter and no upward pressure Will open that shutter Whilethat brace remains in that position. lVhen the shutter B is to beraised, a shoulder upon the scraper A strikes the end of the lever L bywhich means the brace R is pressed backward so as to allow the shutter nto open.

I make no claim to the hopper of the machine nor to the manner ofgrindingV and Working the clay; but

vWhat I do claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentisl. I claim the safety openings D, in combination With the quadrant C,arranged

